Of the nearly 50 so-called "DDoS-for-hire" websites that the Dutch police, together with international partners, took off the air, half are back online. They are using a new domain name, allowing them to offer their services online again. It is still unclear how the investigation and enforcement agencies will respond.
So reports the Cambridge Cybercrime Center of the University of Cambridge (1).
It is mid-December 2022 when Dutch police, together with investigative agencies from Germany, Poland, the US and the UK, take 48 booter sites offline. These are websites that claim to test the reliability and stability of corporate servers by overloading them with connection requests. If they continue to do their job, they can withstand a DDoS attack.
Providers claim that their stresser services are legal, in reality it is criminal. After all, what they are doing is simulating a DDoS attack. Anyone who carries out a DDoS attack risks up to five years in prison in our country.
Because of the misery caused by such booter sites, 48 "DDoS-for-hire" websites were taken down last month. Seven suspects were arrested in the action: six in the US and one in the UK. In addition, the police launched a Google Ads campaign to warn Dutch people about the dangers of DDoS attacks.
"The purpose of the ads is to deter potential cybercriminals seeking DDoS services in the United States and around the world and to educate the public about the illegality of DDoS activity," the U.S. Department of Justice wrote of the action. Those who searched for DDoS attack via Google landed on a page where police warn that using a booter site is illegal.
However, the success of the international operation was short-lived. Richard Clayton, director of the Cambridge Cybercrime Center, claims that half of the services taken offline are now back on the air. "About half of the booters' websites figured it was a good idea to resurrect with new domain names," he said in a statement.
It is unknown how international investigation and enforcement agencies will respond. Clayton thinks it is naive to assume that Dutch police and international partners will not be back in action for another four years. After all, there were four years between the last take-down operation and its predecessor, which took place in December 2018.
Finally, Clayton reports that the international operation was not in vain. According to him, there are signs that the publicity surrounding the operation has had a positive impact on both the demand and supply of booter services. To say anything with certainty about that, we will have to watch it longer.
